The Skinny on Credit Cards

Credit cards a big topic about such a small item (3.37 inches by 2.12 inches). The first thing to know about credit cards is that nobody stood up and asked the banks to invent them. In fact when credit cards first appeared on a grand scale (1958) it was because the Bank of America put thousands of cards in the hands of one California city. America began to change on a mid-September day in 1958 when the Bank of America dropped its first 60000 credit cards on the unassuming city of Fresno California.... A mass mailing of cards: 'a drop'.... There had been no outward yearning among the residents of Fresno for such a device nor even the dimmest awareness that such a thing was in the works. It simply arrived one day with no advance warning as if it had dropped from the sky. -Joe Nocera A Piece of the Action (Simon & Schuster 1994) In the past 50 years the credit card has of course become an integral part of our society. Today there are about 700 million active credit cards - two for every man woman and child in the United States. Total credit card debt is about 1 trillion and it is estimated that U.S. households who use credit cards have an average debt of about 10000. The Skinny On books examine and synthesize the leading research on an array of topics determine the bottom-line need-to-know information and present helpful analysis in an engaging stick-figure illustrated narrative. Designed to be read in just one hour readers can consume and comprehend their chosen subject quickly and effectively.